Building construction



Nov. 20, 1928.

D. E. McAVoY BUILDING co1-1sTRuCT1oNl Filed Sept. 11. 1924 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Nov. 20, 1928.

UNITED STATES DANIEL E. MCA-V OY, 0F LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YQRK.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

Application led September 11, 1924. Serial No.A 737,139.

This invention' pertains to building construction, and is designed to aid in the solution of housing problems incident to congestion in cities, high cost of ground, materials, labor, etc., by rendering the entire space of the building more readily and completely available under varying conditions than has heretofore been possible.

The invention consists in a novel construction of dwellings, whereby each may have the outward appearance of and be used as a residence for a single relatively large family, or without change in outward appearance be readily converted into separate apartments to accommodate two or more smaller families, or a small family and individual tenants, or small groups of tenants, each apartment or suite of rooms affording the usual conveniences and accommodations, and practically the privacy, of a well equipped one-famil dwelling. Reconversion 1s equally-practica le.

The construction permits the exterior ap- 'pearance of the building to be that of a dwelling of the better class, with a single front entrance common to all occupants of the building, and with stairways affordingV access to the several floors. The front hall or vestibule and each platform or landing preferably has, however, a single door or 'opening from the stair well to an apartment onthe level of such floor or landing.

The several sets of stairs are built one above another in a vcommon wellway and occupy the full width of the well, hence form a barrier to passage therein in any direction other than up or down the stairs; in other words, there is no space or opening for passage through the wellway under or on either side of the st-airs therein, and hence the stair well may be of much less than ordinary width, leaving proportionately more than usual space available for the apartments or chambers, while the stair well gives ,access only to the landings of respective ""sftories, between two flights of steps, and

. way of example.

The novel features of the structure are illustrated in the `accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a building with one side wall broken away to show the arrangement of s'tairways, landings, exits, etc.

Fig. 2, a floor plan of the main or ground floor; t

gig. 3, a floor plan of the second floor; an

Fig. 4, a Hoor plan of the third floor.

Referring now to Fig. l of the drawings in which A indicates a building embodying my invention, it will be seen that there is a stair well orL space 1 between the outer side wall 2, here shown as largely broken away, and an inner Wall or partition 3 parallel with said outer wall 2 and extending from the main or ground floor to the roof or to the ceiling of the uppermost story. This well 1 and the partition 3 on the main or ground Hoor extend practically to the front of the building, the partition stopping short of the front wall, or being deflected to permit a doorway and door 4 tobe provided opening from said wellway into the forward end of the front room of said main floor,as seen in Fig. 2. Opposite or atthe front end of the wellway 1 there is provided an entrance doorway and door 5 opening to the street front, and through which all the tenants of the building may enter.

From the ground floor just backv of the doorway 4 a flight of steps 6 rises in the wellway 1 to the second floor, where a landing 7 is formed, from which landing there is provided a doorway and door or entrance 8 into a room or apartment of the second floor. From the landing or Iplatform 7 of this first flight of stairs a second flight of steps 9 rises to the third floor, where there is a similar platform or landing 10 with a doprway and door 11 opening into a room or apartment of the third Hoor. lAt the landmg 7 just to the rear of the doorway 8 there is or may be placed a cross partition i 12 with a doorway and door 13, by which passage beyond the doorway 8 may be controlled by the tenant or tenants using the third floor.

To permit the occupants of the first floor to pass to the second floor or the occupant of the second floor to pass to the first floor without using the common stairway 6, there is provided a doorway and door 14 opening from a first floor room or chamber into the stair-well 1, and a second or private'stairway 15 is constructed to the rear of said door 14, risinv' to a platform or landing 16 on the second floor, where a doorway and door 17 open into a chamber or apartment of the second Hoor.

The fioor plans of the body of the building, or beyond the partition 3, may be arranged as desired. A simple and convenient arrangement for each of the three ioors, having in mind the purposes of this invention, is indicated in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, which respectively represent the ground Hoor, the second floor, and the third oor, in the order named.v

The first or ground floor (Fig. 2) is here represented as havin three rooms, which may conveniently be use as living room, dining room and kitchen, respectively, a shaft 18 equipped with a dumb-waiter or service elevator extending from the lowermost iioor of the building to the top floor, with openings to each of said floors.

The second ioor (Fig. 3) is divided into two small or batchelor apartments, each provided with bath-room and closets. To

ermit the use of these small apartments y the occupant of the lower floor, or by an individual tenant, or by independent tenants, a passageway 19 extends parallel with the partition 3 past the doorways 8 and 17 opening from the platforms 7 and 16, respectively, a doorway and door 2O in said passageway serving to prevent communication between the front and rear apartments, if that be desired.

Under this arrangement, if the occupant of the first or ground floor shall desire additional space, he may by utilizin the private stairway 15 have access to the second floor, and use either the front or rear apa-rtment, or both, entering, however, at the rear apartmentl from the stairway 15, and thus maintaining complete privacy of communication between the two iioors; or if occupying the whole of the second ioor, he may reach the same either by the front stairway 6 and door 8, or by the private stairway 15 and door 17.

- If it be desired to let the front apartment on the second floor to another tenant and retain the rear apartment for the use of the occupant of the first Hoor, the first floor tenant will use the private stairway 15 and door 17, while the tenant of the front apartment will use the stairway 6 and door 8, the door 20 being in such case permanently closed to maintain entire privacy between the two apartments of the second floor.

If the second floor apartments are to be used by different tenants, and neither of them be the proprietor or ground floor tenant, door 20 will be placed under the control of the tenant of the rear apartment, and the doorways giving`access to the front apartment and the closet belonging to the front apartment and facing door 8, will be provided with doors and locks under the control of the tenant of the front apartment.

The third floor may be used as' an independent a artment, or arranged somewhatA after the p an illustrated in Fig. 4, to contain a nursery, servants room, bath-room, closets, and a large bed-room or guest chamber.

Various arrangements of the floor plans will readily suggest themselves to architects and builders, or to those planning houses, according to the indicated needs. The essential feature of the invention is the provision of a completely segregated and private stairway or stairways, wholly independent ofthe main stairwa which latter is open to all the occupants o the building.

This construction, which has been most successfully demonstrated in groups of buildings, usually putup in units of from five or six upwards, enables aperson of modest means, and with a small family or none, to make a first payment on the purchase of such a building, acquirel an apartment adequate to his or their needs, and rent or lease the remaining portions of ,the building to suitable tenants, whose rent payments will enable the purchaser to meet the deferred payments on the building. Again, should the increase of his family and the growth of his children call for additional space or apartment-s, the first floor tenant may readily take over and utilize either or both apartments of thc second floor, and should still further demands for space arise, they may take the entire building maintaining in each instance entire privacy for his own family, and for other tenants who may occupy the building with him.

On the other hand, as the younger members of the family grow up and leave home, apartments which have been used by the purchaser may be rented to others from time to time as found convenient or desirable, and thus a dwelling which would otherwise be larger than needed may be retained and used by the owner, the rentals being then a source of income justifying such retention. and affording as a matter of fact, better interests on the investment than is commonly obtainable through* any equally safe investment.

Another advantage over prior construc-- f i tions resides in the fact that a building of,

superior dimensions and appearance can thus be brought within the reach of persons of moderate salary or income, and such dwellings may be built on properties sold under restrictions as to the size, character, and cost of structures permitted thereon. Itis peculiarly adapted to narrow lots, since the arrangement of the stairways is economical.

The actual practical use of houses of this type has demonstrated that they are attractive to a better `class of tenants than is the conventional type of two-family house. The chief reason for this is that there is nothing in the appearance of the housev when used for a single family that suggests that it is a two-,family dwelling, and nothing in the appearance of the house when used as a two-family dwelling that makes this fact obstrusively evident. An incidental advantage when used for one family is that in the eventv of illness of a contafrious andinfectious nature, a portion of a floor or a whole ioor can be isolated from the remainder of the house, thus avoidin the necessity of quarantining those using t e other portions of the dwellmg.

What is claimed is 1. A building 'having a stair-well and straight flights of steps therein reaching from the ground floor to the uppermost floor of the building and completely bridging the space-between the side walls of the well, thereby forming a continuous upwardly and rearwardly extending barrier between the front and the rear ends of the stair well;

platforms or landings at the floors of suc cessive stories; an outlet into the body of the building at each landing or platform, each such outlet provided ,with a closure; a main entrance at the ground door, opening from-the outside of the building into the stair-well; a doorway and door at the foot of the lowermost fh ht of steps, opening from the stair-well into the body\ of the building; a second stairway extending in rear of the first-named stairway from one story to another and an outlet and a closure therefor, at the foot and head of such second stairway, opening into the body of the building on the floors connected bysaid second stairway whereby a lprivate spassageway is afforded between the floorsl connected by such secondstairway.

2. A building comprising two or more stories, and having a main entrance from the outside; a stair-well extending from said entrance to the upper story of the building; alined stairs in said well, extending rearwardly fron each floor ofthe building to the next above and occupyino` the entire width of the well; an opening from said stair-well into the body of the building at each floor, at the forward side of said stairway; a second stairway in rear of the rst, extending from a lower toan upper floor; and doorways opening'from the well into the body of the building at the lower and upper ends of such second stairway, whereby a private way is afforded between such stories. K

3.- A building having a stair-well and straight flights of steps therein 'reaching from the ground floor to the uppermost floor of the building` and completely bridging the space between the side walls of the well, thereby forming a vcontinuous upwardly and rearwardly extending barrier between the front and the rear ends o1' the stair well; platforms or landings at the floors of successive stories; an outlet into the body of the building at each landing or platform, each `such outlet provided with a closure; a main entrance at the groundl floor, opening from the outside of the building into the stair-well; a doorway and door at the foot` of the lowermost flight of steps, opening from the stair-well into the body of the building; a second stairway extending in rear of the first-named stairway from one story to another; an outlet and a closure therefor, at the foot and head of such second stairway, opening into the body of the building on the floors connected by said second stairway, a floor or oors reached by either of such stairways being subdivided to form .independent apartments; an independent doorway for each such apartment, provided wit-ha door opening to one or the other of said stairways; and a passageway between the inner wall of the stair-well connecting said independent apartments and provided with a doorway whereby said passage may be closed between the respective apartments,

ysaid door permitting or preventing as desired, communicationV between said apartments.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

J DANIEL E. MCAVOY. 

